I have a friend. She adopted her dog, an American Bulldog, a few years ago. This poor dog was never taken to the vets, regardless of injury, and was obese and only given a couple of short walks a day.
Anyway, on Xmas eve, this dog injured herself, to the point of being unable to walk, so had to be carried outside for toiletting.
On Friday, late afternoon, I heard about this injury and asked my friend to show me a photo, she showed me a poor photo, and it was immediately clear that the dog had a hip displacement. I persuaded her to take her to the vet. A couple of hours later I heard that the dog had been put down.
I'm so angry, surgery was an option but offered no guarantees, and is of course expensive, and the alternative was pain meds for life, which in my friends opinion was too expensive (she gets 50% off because she's on benefits)
Now my friend is playing the grieving owner, all I can think of is firstly the poor dog spent several days in agony, but that this dog could have had surgery. But I also can't forget that she might not have been injured in this way had she had the exercise th a t she needed.
I love dogs (we have a rescue too), but in any case, I believe that if we offer an animal a home, we have a responsibility to put them before us, we would go without food rather than not pay for vet care (we have insurance), we walk our dog for 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day regardless of the weather.
My friend is already talking about replacing her dog. And believe me it will be a large breed. She's on FB talking about how upset she is and how she has a piece of fur. Her grief isn't about the dog and its pain, it's about her loss.
Last weekend, in Rutland, the first statue in Britain of the late Elizabeth II was unveiled.
